The family of Diagoras of Rhodes

1
The family of Diagoras of Rhodes

• He lived 5th cen. B.C., known for boxing. Other
  relatives were also athletes
• Pausanias in 2nd cen A.D. saw his statue and
  wrote about it in The Description of Greece
  travel guide.
• Married women not permitted at Olympics.
  Unmarried ok
• Pancration/pankration boxing and wrestling
• Some Diagorids temporarily in exile. Same fate as
  many aristocrats.

2
Opinion of Xenophanes 6th cen B.C.

• It is unfair that athletes receive special
  treatment.
• Brawn is not better than brains
• Victory by these people does not improve matters
  for the polis

3
Tyrants

• Concept appeared 7th cent. B.C.
• Tyrants usually encouraged trade and built large
  public works.
• Great patrons of the arts (supported poets
  Aeschylus, Pindar, Simonides etc.)
• Relied upon force and public opinion to stay in
  power

4
Poets of the Archaic Age 7-6 B.C.

• Archilochus of Paros drinking, fighting, sharp
  tongue
• Tyrtaeus of Sparta bravery in battle
• Alcaeus of Lesbos (drinker, soldier, poet)
• drinking, fighting, abuse of ruler Pittacus

5
Poets contd

• Sappho of Lesbos (a woman and a love poet!)
  effects of passion, nature, tender feeling
• Sapphos role in the lives of the women in her
  circle was uncertain. priestess? schoolmistress?
  but we know that in the end they always left for
  marriage? or after religious initiation was
  completed?
• Alcman of Sparta (Spartan maidens not military
  culture like Tyrtaeus) Importance of colours,
  comparisons to celestial beings
• Not taboo to express sexual desire

6
Poets contd

• Portrayal of women varied according to the
  anticipated audience. A work intended for all of
  Greece would be difft and probably more positive
  than a racy work intended for the local mens
  club.